Classicismo/Classicismi Architettura Europa/America 1920-1940

The theme of the essays in this book is that of the persistence of the classical, or how classical forms are reproduced and renewed even in the decades in which 20th-century architecture appears to be following other paths.

[Classicism/Classicisms. Architecture Europe/America 1920-1940] To what extent does the “classical” remain a central question in the architectural research of the 20th century? Many contrasting answers have been offered for this question, often swayed by ideological bias. But recent studies leave no room for convenient solutions: to continue to construe the development of contemporary architecture in the first decades of the 20th century as an expression of a shared anticlassical position makes no sense. The theme of the essays in this book is that of the persistence of the classical, or how classical forms are reproduced and renewed even in the decades in which 20th-century architecture would appear to identify with the terse rigor of the rationalist style and the ethical-formal reasoning Nikolaus Pevsner saw as the premise for the historiographic concept of the “Modern Movement”. The volume is the result of a seminar featuring contributions from different disciplinary areas and different research hypotheses, stimulating readers to investigate further and effect their own critical synthesis.